IBF

IBF super bantamweight champion Israel “Magnifico” Vazquez has confirmed that the contract has been signed and delivered to face WBC champ Oscar "Chololo" Larios as part of an HBO-PPV card along with Bernard Hopkins vs. Jermain Taylor II on December third. "This is the moment of truth. We have one victory against each other and like ring announcer Lupe Contreras says (as his catch phrase) we’ll finally get to see who really is more macho," said a giddy Vazquez. Vazquez and Larios fought a toe to toe war that was a fight of the year candidate in 2002 before Gatti and Ward embarked on their two fisted epic. Larios won the fight with a twelve round stoppage. Their first fight took place in 1999 with Vazquez brutally knocking out Larios in the first round. Vazquez, who had many fights fall through in the last two years, feels this is the big time fight and exposure both he and Larios need in order to rise to another level. His faith has also been re-established, "I was losing a lot of faith in the boxing world. But this proves to me that all I needed was a little patience and something big would soon happen. Many fighters sacrifice a lot and never get this far. This is what every fighter works so hard for. What’s bigger than fighting on HBO and getting to face the one fighter I’ve been wanting revenge against for so many years?" Vazquez also assured that his recent sparring sessions with Manny Pacquio will be very helpful in this fight, "I learned some important lessons from those sessions. Those are lessons I can take with me into the ring for any fight."